After cooperation on SMILE mission, ESA and China chart parallel but separate paths.
After cooperation on SMILE mission, ESA and China chart parallel but separate paths HELSINKI — ESA and China recently launched the joint SMILE magnetosphere mission after a decade of cooperation but, despite sharing similar goals, another collaboration in space between Europe and China appears distant.
The SMILE (Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer) spacecraft lifted off on a Vega C rocket from Kourou, French Guiana, May 19, heading for a unique orbit that will take it high above the North Pole to view the Earth's magnetosphere with soft X-ray and UV imagers to study how it interacts with the solar wind.
